Afrocentric Norms and Substance Use Behaviors Among Black Young Adults.

Despite not displaying higher overall rates of substance use compared to White Americans, the social consequences of substance use disorders for Black Americans, particularly among Black American men, are more damaging. Furthermore, recent data suggest an uptick in substance use-related deaths among Black Americans, raising serious concerns about a growing health disparity that warrants the need for studies to identify factors associated with prevention. For decades, Black cultural theorists have argued that Afrocentric norms are important buffers against maladaptive behaviors in Black Americans, but the association in the context of substance use is still an emerging area.

Mental Health Treatment-Seeking Appraisal, Afrocentric Cultural Norms, and Mental Health Functioning: Buffering Factors of Young Black Men's Externalizing Behavior.

Background: Depression rates are disproportionately high among Black American Men. This disparity--compounded by low mental healthcare seeking rates and high incorrect diagnosis rates in men--could be related to masculine norms, including self-reliance, restrictive emotionality, and stoicism. Furthermore, men are more likely to engage in externalized behavior, such as aggression, to cope with mental health challenges; this pattern is influenced by cultural and environmental factors.

White Blood Cell Count and Serum Cytokine Profile in Tropical Hardwood Workers in Kumasi.

Background: Occupational exposure to wood dust particles has long been reported of its associated varying degrees of negative health effects due to different extractive chemicals present in the various timber species. However, tropical hardwood is also reported to have higher levels of extractive chemicals of antihistamine, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties. In Ghana, woodworkers have for years been exposed to wood dust from mixed tropical hardwood species, with little or no protective equipment such as nose masks, yet with less significant respiratory conditions.

Influence of α-Macroglobulin, Anti-Parasite IgM and ABO Blood Group on Rosetting in Clinical Isolates and Their Associations with Disease Severity in a Ghanaian Population.

Purpose: The severity of infections is associated with the ability of the infected red blood cells to cytoadhere to host vascular endothelial surfaces and to uninfected RBCs. Host blood group antigens and two serum proteins α-macroglobulin (αM) and IgM have been implicated in rosette formation in laboratory-adapted . However, there is only limited information about these phenotypes in clinical isolates.

Isolation and light chain shuffling of a Plasmodium falciparum AMA1-specific human monoclonal antibody with growth inhibitory activity.

Background: Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite causing malaria, affects populations in many endemic countries threatening mainly individuals with low malaria immunity, especially children. Despite the approval of the first malaria vaccine Mosquirix™ and very promising data using cryopreserved P. falciparum sporozoites (PfSPZ), further research is needed to elucidate the mechanisms of humoral immunity for the development of next-generation vaccines and alternative malaria therapies including antibody therapy.